Inspired by a disk failure in my current lab server and my fellow MVP Jeff I decided to put together a new lab server.

My current server is a i7, 24 GB RAM machine with one WD VELOCIRAPTOR as OS disk and 4 * 1 TB WD (I don’t remember the model) in RAID 10. It has served me well for a couple of years but as one of the disks failed I realized that more will fail soon and I want more RAM for my VMs so I went shopping!

The parts I decided on are shown below, I won’t shop from Amazon but rather a local Swedish dealer but for you, non Swedish readers, I thought you might have a hard time translating so the links are all to Amazon.

Parts used:

In my office I have a modular Cooler Master 500 W power supply that has been around as a spare and I will try to use that for power, not sure it will be enough but I think it will.

I hope for great speed when all parts arrive and I will make sure I get back with result and maybe some pictures as well.

Please feel free to comment on what mistakes I did in this setup or what you would have gone for!

(In Swedish)

Exchange 2013 har i och med att Microsoft släppt CU1 blivit en komplett plattform och det självklara valet när tidigare versioner av Exchange skall uppgraderas. Skillnaderna ser möjligen inte revolutionerande ut men ”under huven” finns massor av nyheter. Dessa och mycket mer vill man självklart veta och bästa sättet att på kort tid sätta sig in i produkten är att gå en kurs.

Tillsammans med Expero erbjuder mailmaster samtliga kurser från Microsoft samt några egenutvecklade utbildningar som erbjuder dig som redan är specialist att bli ännu bättre.

Vårt koncept kring utbildningar är enkelt, vi har tagit det bästa från de utbildningar vi själv gått och paketerat detta! Det betyder att vi alltid kör kurserna i centralt belägna, nya fräscha lokaler, med de bästa instruktörerna och på nya snabba datorer. Precis som vi själv vill ha det när vi går kurs…

Så ska du gå utbildningar på Exchange, kolla med Expero först!

Exchange Server 2013 RTM Cumulative Update 1 is now released! I have scanned the web for useful resources and this is my list:

Microsoft:

Download

Release notes

Upgrade Exchange 2013 to the Latest Cumulative Update (will be available soon)

High Availability Changes in Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 1

Blogs:

The Last Missing Piece – Exchange 2013 RTM CU1 Released!

Exchange 2013 RTM CU1 Stops Transport During Prerequisite Check

New Features in OWA 2013 RTM CU1

Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 1

Exchange 2013 CU1 – the software that RTM could have been

Exchange Server 2013 RTM Cumulative Update 1 (CU1) Released

Installing Exchange 2013 CU1 on DAG member servers – some care and maintenance mode required

You are more than welcome to suggest more links as comments!

With Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 1 coexistence between Exchange 2010 (Service Pack 3) and Exchange 2013is finally supported. It’s been a long journey but let’s now focus on how to install Exchange 2013 and coexist with the latest and greatest Exchange version, 2013.

In this part I will cover how to install Exchange 2013 CU1.

In my lab I set up the following:

I use split DNS so the domain is called mailmasterlab.se both internal and external. Since it’s been common to have a TMG in front of Exchange I have included one and we will go through what configuration we will have to do there as well. See table below for all fact of the servers.

Of course there is no good reason for using a load balancer for only one server but in this blog series we will also build a DAG later on so I added a KEMP for that purpose and we will also look at how to configure it.

And the next server we will set up will be the Exchange 2013 server, note that to be able to install Exchange 2013 all Exchange 2010 servers in the organization will need Exchange 2010 Service Pack 3 before we can install. If any Exchange 2010 servers in your organization (including Edge servers) does not yet have SP3, start by upgrading them or the Exchange 2013 setup will fail because of a “hard block”.

Our Exchange 2013 server will have the following characteristics:

The next thing to do is to install an Windows 2012 server. Even though I won’t set up a DAG in this blog I recommend you who will to base your Exchange 2013 server on Windows Server 2012 Standard as Failover Cluster is included. in standard and much more affordable.

I won’t cover the Windows setup in details but when you have Windows 2012 in place follow the steps below.

Download and install Unified Communications Managed API 4.0 Runtime

Download Exchange Server 2013 RTM Cumulative Update 1 (CU1). Note that you can install from CU1 and don’t have to upgrade from RTM.

Extract the the content to a directory of you choice, in my case C:\Ex1013

Start an elevated cmd and run setup if you like to run the GUI based setup or run the command you prefer to do a unattended setup. In this blog I will do it through the GUI.

You will be asked to check for updates, it’s unlikely that any updates will be found.

After you click next files will be copied and setup will initialize.

A few next and a accepted license agreement later you will be asked to install with recommended or custom settings, I go for custom in this case.

As I will install one Exchange 2013 server I go for both Client Access role and Mailbox role. Since I didn’t do anything specific to Windows roles and features I check “Automatically install Windows Server roles and features that are required to install Exchange Server”.

Pick your destination where you want Exchange to be installed. I go for default .

Next I select to keep Malware Protection enabled.

Setup will check that all components are in place and that the server is ready to be installed. A restart will probably be needed after all Windows components are installed. so lets restart and try again.

After rerunning setup you will see something like above, don’t worry about the warnings about Filter Pack.

Hit install and beside getting Exchange 2013 installed on the server your organization will now get some new stuff in AD,  yes as usual there are schema updates so be prepared that this might take a while (and require permissions).

Some 35 minutes later you have a brand new Exchange 2013 CU1 server! Congrats!

In part 2 of this blog series we will take a look at what we should configure on this brand new server, stay tuned!

Today I got the updated Mail app included in Windows 8 and I staring away thought I write a blog about it but found a very informative post over at the Windows Experience Blog so I will keep this post to my favorite features included in the update.

• Flag email – a feature I use all the time and something I have been missing using the mail app on my Surface.
• Search – You can now search on the server as well, not only in the content that is synced (typically two weeks).
• Manage folders – I like to keep my emails in folders and before this update I could not create or delete folders, with the update this is now possible.

So head over to Windows Experience Blog and read the full blog and don’t forget to update you apps!

Update: Please not that Exchange 2010 SP3 adds support for coexistence with Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 1 (will be released in Q1 2013). Text below changed to reflect that.

It’s been a evening full of updates! It seems like Microsoft saved the best for last since Exchange 2010 Service Pack 3 was released minutes ago (just beaten by Update Rollup 10 for Exchange 2007 SP 3 and Update Rollup 6 for Exchange 2010 SP2).

The big news in Exchange 2010 Service Pack 3 is of course the ability to coexist with Exchange 2013 CU1 but let’s not forget the support for running Exchange 2010 on Windows Server 2012 witch can save a bit of money running a DAG. As mentioned above Exchange 2013 CU1  will be released in Q1 and it’s the first out of the new update model for Exchange 2013.

I suggest you take a good look at the Release Notes for Service Pack 3 but I would like to point out the following:

• Exchange 2010 SP3 makes updates to the Active Directory schema
• The database schema has been updated in Exchange 2010 SP3. As a result, when Mailbox servers are upgraded to Exchange 2010 SP3, the databases are upgraded to the Exchange 2010 SP3 version of the database schema. After a database has been updated to the Exchange 2010 SP3 schema, it can’t be mounted on a pre-Exchange 2010 SP3 Mailbox server.

On the following links you can download Exchange 2010 Service Pack 3, read the  What’s New in Exchange 2010 SP3 and don’t forget to check out the blog at MSExchangeTeam about SP3.

I will be back with more info on how to upgrade and coexistence soon!

Today Microsoft released Update Rollup 6 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 2. I have installed it on two servers without any issues but I suggest you test all updates in your lab before you install.

Download: Update Rollup 6 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 2 (KB2746164)

A detailed description of fixes:

Update Rollup 6 for Exchange Server 2010 SP2 addresses the vulnerabilities that are described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS13-012

This update also resolves the following issues:

• 2489941 The "legacyExchangeDN" value is shown in the "From" field instead of the "Simple Display Name" in an email message in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2717453 You cannot move or delete a folder by using Outlook in online mode in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2733608 Corrupted Japanese DBCS characters when you send a meeting request or post a reply to a posted item in a public folder in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2734635 Folder-associated information (FAI) items are deleted when you run the New-InboxRule cmdlet or change Inbox rules in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2737046 AutoPreview feature does not work when you use Outlook in online mode in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2741117 High CPU utilization by Microsoft Exchange Replication service on Client Access servers in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2746030 Incorrect ExternalURL value for EWS is returned by an Exchange Server 2010 Client Access server

• 2750188 Exchange Service Host service crashes when you start the service on an Exchange 2010 server

• 2751417 Synchronization fails if you sync an external device to a mailbox through EAS in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2751581 OAB generation fails with event IDs 9126, 9330, and either 9338 or 9339 in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2760999 "The signup domain ‘org’ derived from ‘<TenantDomainName>.org’ is not a valid domain" error message when you use the Hybrid Configuration wizard in an Exchange Server

• 2776259 Msftefd.exe process crashes if an email attachment has an unexpected file name extension or no file name extension in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2779387 Duplicated email messages are displayed in the Sent Items folder in a EWS-based application that accesses an Exchange Server 2010 Mailbox server

• 2783586 Name order of a contact is displayed incorrectly after you edit the contact in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2783631 User-Agent field is empty when you run the Get-ActiveSyncDeviceStatistics cmdlet in an Exchange Server 2010 SP2 environment

• 2783633 You cannot move or delete an email message that is larger than the maximum receive or send size in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2783649 Private appointment is visible to a delegate in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2783771 Mailbox on a mobile device is not updated when EAS is configured in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2783772 Edgetransport.exe process crashes after a journal recipient receives an NDR message in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2783776 You cannot perform a cross-premises search in a mailbox in an Exchange Server 2010 hybrid environment

• 2783782 Error message when you use Scanpst.exe on a .pst file in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2784081 Store.exe process crashes if you add certain registry keys to an Exchange Server 2010 Mailbox server

• 2784083 Week numbers in the Outlook Web App and Outlook calendars are mismatched in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2784093 SCOM alerts and event ID 4 in an Exchange Server 2010 SP2 organization that has Update Rollup 1 or later

• 2784566 Exchange RPC Client Access service crashes on an Exchange Server 2010 Mailbox server

• 2787023 Exchange Mailbox Assistants service crashes when you try to change a recurring calendar item or publish free/busy data in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2793274 A new option is available that disables the PermanentlyDelete retention action in an Exchange Server 2010 organization

• 2793278 You cannot use the search function to search for mailbox items in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2793279 Exchange Server 2010 does not restart when the Microsoft Exchange Replication service freezes

• 2793488 Internet Explorer freezes when you connect to the OWA several times in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

• 2810616 Email message delivery is delayed on a Blackberry mobile device after you install Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2010 SP2